Week 5 Assignment, Part 2: Course Reflections

1. What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned?

Going into the course, I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  Since I knew that this was the first class for all students in the program, I hoped it would be an introduction to what educational technology leadership would entail.  I did indeed learn the qualities an educational technology leader should possess.  In that vein, the course did align with what I had envisioned, although the depth of research in the subject area and scope of information was much broader than I ever had anticipated.  Locating and evaluating district level technology plans and governmental programs was a challenging endeavor.  The amount of time delving into areas of which I am not familiar proved to be a very time consuming task.  I found myself wondering in the first two weeks whether or not this program was right for me.  I was finding out that knowledge and utilization of educational technology does not translate into knowledge of technology leadership.  After thinking it over, I decided that this program is exactly right for me.  The true question is, with all the other obligations I have, is this the right time for me?


2. To the extent that you achieved the outcomes, are they still relevant to the work that you do in your school? Why or why not?

I do believe that the outcomes are relevant to the work that I do.  Although I have taken it upon myself to embed computer skills into my content, I was not aware of the TEKS that all students are supposed to master by the 8^th grade.  I remember when we had a dedicated class called Technology Applications.  All 8^th graders were required to take it for one semester.  It was eliminated approximately seven years ago, but I do not recall anyone making it known that the skills that were taught in that course were to be embedded into the content areas.  I learned this by researching the district’s technology plan and the technology TEKS as required in this course.  Another area that I learned a lot was in the area of ethics, safety and legal issues.  I now realize how important it is to educate the staff so that we can educate our students and parents.3. What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them?

I believe that I did achieve the expected outcomes; however, I wish that I had more time to spend on the assignments.   I was not able to linger in thought on the readings as I would have liked.  I was not able to spend as much time rereading, evaluating, and reflecting as I would have liked.  This course is very fast paced, and the work is somewhat cumbersome and time consuming.  I felt that all the activities were valuable, but there was not enough time to absorb as much of the information as I would have liked.  Since Week 2, I have learned some time management skills that have made the assignments much more manageable.  I’ve also had to learn that I cannot control how many hours there are in a day and that I have to just do my best in the amount of time available, and then let it go. 

4. Were you successful in carrying out the course assignments? If not, what prevented or discouraged you?

I was successful in carrying out the class assignments.  As mentioned before, I almost was not able to complete the first two weeks’ assignments due to problems with time management and other obligations.  Luckily, I have been able to adjust my schedule to accommodate the required work.  I was not expecting the assignments to be so time consuming.  I was very concerned about not being able to perform my job adequately and also fulfill the requirements for this program.  I find it very stressful because I am not comfortable doing sloppy work, whether it be as a teacher, a leader, or a student.  I do feel this is the perfect program for me, but it is a big sacrifice.  Knowing that I will have a week off every five weeks is something that keeps me going.  I will have that week to hone my classroom lessons and my online class that I teach for the virtual high school.  I also need this time to spend with loved ones, take care of household chores, and rejuvenate before the next class.5. What did you learn from this course…about yourself, your technology and leadership skills, and your attitudes?

I’ve learned how much I do not know, especially about the leadership side of technology.  I feel like I know a lot about using technology and integrating it into my curriculum, but I don’t know much about district level and state level plans and initiatives.  During the first two weeks of this course, I felt as if I was drinking water from a fire house.  I thought that because I have been a district trainer, a department chair, lead mentor, and team leader that I have a lot of leadership experience.  I had no idea how much more there is to being a school leader than just managing people.  I also found that I am a bit of a control freak and tend to take on too many responsibilities. I need to work on trusting others and delegating more.  Most importantly, I learned that time management is essential to be successful in this class.

E-Rate and CCISD Technology Plan

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National Education Technology Plan (NETP)

The National Education Technology Plan is a plan for transforming American education rather than reforming American education.   It calls for a bold new way of thinking that empowers students to be part of the creative and collaborative learning process.  The model calls for communities of learners that have access to not just information, but to other learners 24/7.   The NETP has two goals: to raise the existing proportion of college graduates from approximately 40% to a goal of 60%; and to close the high school achievement gap so that all high school graduates are prepared and able to be successful in careers or college.   The Obama administration has made education a priority, as it is believed that education is necessary for democracy and to stay competitive in the global sense.  The plan includes goals for learning powered by technology in five areas.  These areas are learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure, and productivity.  In respect to the learners, we must allow the students to contribute to their own learning by enabling them through the use continuous availability of technology.  Real world information gathering methods and learning opportunities must be provided to cultivate thinkers in this modern age.   Continuous assessment is required for monitoring and measuring performance.   The plan calls for replacing “episodic and ineffective” professional development for teachers with collaborative and continuous learning.  The plan also states the infrastructure should allow for “always on” learning.  Students should have access to not just information from multiple sources, but also to online communities and each other so that learning is intertwined rather than transferred from one to another.  This access must be not just within the confines of a classroom, but anywhere at any time from a variety of devices.  The NETP is an ambitious plan to move us forward into the 21^st century and enable our greatest natural resource, our children, to remain competitive in this global economy.

CCISD Technology Plan

The Clear Creek ISD long range technology plan is composed of four goals.  These goals are to improve student learning and achievement through the integration of technology into instruction across the curriculum; work with the department of instruction to provide district-wide professional development to ensure efficient and effective use of technologies; to support district wide strategic planning initiatives by providing technology solutions to ensure efficient and effective management of resources, improved processes, and community collaboration; and to support integration of technology into instruction by providing and maintaining network connectivity, hardware, and software.  

Each of these goals also has between two to four objectives and each objective has between five and thirteen strategies for reaching the goals and objectives.  Goal 1 Objectives includes increased student access to 24/7 learning; increased collaboration between instruction and technology; and improved academic achievement across the curriculum through the of technology and library services.  Goal 2 Objectives include expanding and providing professional development opportunities through the use of distance learning that is collaborative, interactive, and differentiated.  The Goal 3 Objectives are to promote a shared vision that ensures planning is collaborative and technology rich; communicate the vision with a variety of media to interact and collaborate; and improve processes to promote efficient and effective management of district resources.  The objectives of the fourth and final goal are to provide the infrastructure to allow the district to meet district goals, and to develop the infrastructure to prepare for and address emerging technologies and future needs.

The district uses an on-going and systematic process for evaluating and monitoring the progress towards these specific goals, some of which include the utilizing data collected from the Texas STaR chart, annual surveys/needs assessments, annual interviews with campus principals, librarians and other campus staff; student focus group meetings; Net Day’s Speak Up Event data; feedback from monthly technology specialist meetings; records in participation in technology in professional development; number of staff members within each of their levels of TSDP; monitoring of usage for all digital and online instructional resources, student performance on the technology TEKS; and many other sources for data collection too numerous to list.  The point is that the district is using multiple forms of assessment along the path of implementation. 

Technology Assessments

There’s an old adage that says, “You can’t get where you want to go if you don’t know where you are”.   An illustration of this adage, taken to the simplest level, would be a road map.  If one does not know the beginning point, it is impossible to know which path to take to get to the destination.  Metaphorically speaking, technology assessment is the beginning point for making a plan to reach our targets in technology.  It is vital to know our current level of technological understanding and usage in order to make a plan for moving forward.  It would not be of any value to have a plan for patterns of classroom use without first providing educator preparation and development or the Infrastructure to support the teaching and learning.  Just like in the classroom, pre-assessment is necessary to drive instruction.  Technology cannot be learned and implemented in isolation.  It is a process in which skills, understanding, and implementation are built upon.  Once a district or campus has a clear view of the current technological status of its educators, a plan can be developed which will provide a solid foundation upon which to build.  Staff development should not be offered without first considering the needs of those attending.  These assessments will allow decision makers to provide the most meaningful staff development possible.  It’s my opinion that assessments should continue during the implementation of a technology plan to ensure that growth is taking place.  The only con in my view is that some technologically illiterate teachers may feel overwhelmed when discovering the daunting task ahead of them.  It’s a fact that educators are behind in technology in comparison with their business world counterparts.  If educators are to remain in education, they must grow in technology to keep up with student demand.

Web Conference August 31, 2011

I attended my first ever web conference on Wednesday, August 31, 2011.  The conference was with the professor of a graduate class I am taking online.  This was an incredible learning experience for me as I hope to hold web conferences of my own for an online that I am teaching myself.  I read somewhere once that real learning is noisy and sometimes may resemble mayhem.  I wouldn’t exactly call our class’ first web conference mayhem, but it certainly took a while for the participants, mostly whom were new to web conferencing, to learn how to use the conference software and their own webcams and microphones.  I arrived early to allow myself time to play with the equipment I had never used, either.  Many other students had the same idea.  For the first few minutes of the conference there was a lot of squeaking and squawking feedback due to too many microphones at the same time.  It did not take long for us to learn that only one microphone should be open at a time.  Our professor was very patient with us as we learned how to operate in this medium new to us.  After the initial problems were resolved, the conference ran very smoothly.  We were able to actually see what our instructor looked and sounded like, as well as see and hear each other.  We were given a short overview of the program, which includes an internship and culminates with the opportunity to sit for the principal’s certification and technology examinations.  After discussing the requirements of the program, we were given time to ask questions.  It was a remarkable experience, and one that we are offered on a weekly basis.  A recording of the conference is also available in our course software.